Fines after three guilty of illegally sited mobile home in Burgate

Three individuals have been fined £1,050 after failing to remove a residential home and stored building materials from land in Burgate.

They were found guilty on Monday at Ipswich Magistrate’s Court of failing to comply with an enforcement notice requiring the cessation and removed of a residential mobile home, and the cessation of use and removal of stored building materials from Great Green.

This is a last resort and the Council will always seek to enforce notices through all options available

James Buckingham, Corporate Manager for Sustainable Environment, MSDC

Donald Wiseman, Jean Wiseman and Donna White were found guilty of the six offences and were fined a total of £1,050 plus £105 victim surcharge and ordered to pay £450 costs.

The first hearing for the prosecution, during September 2016, was brought about after a lengthy investigation into the activities on the land from Mid Suffolk District Council’s Planning Enforcement team. The Enforcement Notices on the land have been active since an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate was brought forward by the defendants and subsequently dismissed in 2008.

Since then, negotiations with the defendants failed to resolve the issue and prosecution proceedings were launched in July.

James Buckingham, Corporate Manager for Sustainable Environment at Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Councils, said: “When issuing any Enforcement Notice we always provide a sufficient amount of time for the recipient to comply.

“Unfortunately in this case, although we have conducted prolonged negotiations the failure to comply has forced us to resort to a prosecution. This is a last resort and the Council will always seek to enforce notices through all options available.

“We will continue to work with the Wisemans and Mrs White to ensure that the notice can be complied with as smoothly as possible.”